A dandelion Much despised Hardy flower For every dig Sows more seed Until it spreads Its reedy feet All over neighbours' Fallow field A tincture tea To pep the heart Set flight in spring A work of art As little copters Spin on breeze To plant ungovernable Bright young weed
A skein of yarn Can simply not run free If tugged or pulled Will surely wrap In tangled knots of weeks Gently lift Like pick up sticks To unwind tenderly All to work it Round about To clothe Bitter westerly
Time wears down Toughest Ancient lines Layers, pillars Crumble Force of waves Cold infiltrates Slightest grain Marine fossils Tonnes tumble Return to sea Once again
Truly startling How heartache can feel Like a rapid rushing Over rocks In time, over distance A babbling brook A trickle easing its way To ocean Accepted by generous banks Of rivers To gaze upon it Perched aloft All creatures delight Tumble, preen and feed On its shores
Wander vast landscapes In snow, wind and rain Pour out my heart On alluvial plane Marvel and bow within Carved limestone cave Forage and flit about White washed waves
For each day of yearning Turns a new fresh page Placing the point On paper, thoughts race As feelings are aired They are lighter in space Took all of my wandering To know here is my place
Kunanyi / Mt Wellingtonin Spring snow, taken from Bellerive Pier, Hobart Tasmania.
Don't let me near a bumblebee A lizard, owl or slimy leech No butterflies or hilltop scree Invertebrates nor anemone Away with bells of pink or white Dangling in the dappled light No trudging through the crunchy snow Or campstove fires in cabins glow Pandani, fagus, kangaroo grass If you want to air the grief Far away from nature's best Put this cure-all to the test Nature lover, wandering free One never forgets an ecologist!
Only comes out On coldest days Wild wind snaps My face into shape. Any passing stranger Notices cool change Friends embrace Challengers turn tail. It holds space Though never filled Gravitates to places Where eyes first locked Pockets turned inside out Lint was spilled. Gaze darts from butterflies To fleeting smiles Peering through the aisles Of best sellers. Silent goodbyes Are all that linger now.
View of snowy kunanyi / Mt Wellington from The Afterword Cafe.
Count the stars of heaven 